While the history behind how Thanksgiving came to be (cue the mistreatment of Native Americans) is controversial, the holiday itself has come to represent many wholesome values today. To many Americans, Thanksgiving is a day off from work and an opportunity to spend quality time with friends and family while enjoying a home-cooked feast. For many years, Thanksgiving has also been the most important shopping weekend for the retail industry. Black Friday is the day when many retailers have traditionally offered deep discounts on hot items. However, things have changed with the growing impact of the Internet and the rise of ecommerce. Online retailers, with Amazon being the most prominent, developed Cyber Monday to serve as the day when consumers can capitalize on huge savings the Monday before Thanksgiving. As a result, many big-box retailers have had their sales drop as some consumers have shifted to making their purchases solely online. To fight back, in recent years, many large retailers have started opening their stores on Thanksgiving Day. Is this what we really want as a society? (more…)